City of West Palm Beach v. Knuutila

Decision Date14 March 1966
Docket NumberNo. 78,78
Citation183 So.2d 881
PartiesCITY OF WEST PALM BEACH, a municipal corporation, Frank Lawler, City Manager, and Irma Grider, City Tax Collector, Appellants, v. George T. KNUUTILA, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

John H. Evans, City Atty., and Frederick E. Hollingsworth, West Palm Beach, for appellants.

Daniel H. Jones and Paschal C. Reese, of Gibson, Gibson & Reese, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

WALDEN, Judge.

This appeal receives disposition as a matter of procedural law so we recite only those facts necessary for the decision.

Being refused the renewal of a certain license by the City of West Palm Beach, appellee petitioned and obtained the issuance of an alternative writ of mandamus, directing the City to either renew the license or show cause at a time certain why it refused to do so. Thereupon, the City filed a motion to quash the alternative writ of mandamus whereby the legal sufficiency of the writ was challenged. At the appointed time the court heard counsel, entered a peremptory writ of mandamus, and contemporaneously denied the City's motion to quash.

Omitting merely formal parts and the command, the altenative writ of mandamus contained this recital:

'WHEREAS it is alleged in the verified petition of GEORGE KNUUTILA, the petitioner herein, that the withholding of a renewal of his Beverage License under Section 4-10 of the Code of Ordinances of West Palm Beach is an unreasonable restraint on his property rights and that he is entitled to the issuance of said license forthwith, he having paid to the Tax Collector of the County of Palm Beach, Florida, the cost of said license, and that there is not a plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law * * *.'

The trial court by its denial of the City's motion to quash found that this statement constituted a legal cause of action entitling petitioner-appellee to the relief sought. We believe this to be error and reverse.

Mandamus procedure was considered in the case of City of Bradenton v. State ex rel. Perry, 1935, 118 Fla. 838, 160 So. 506, 100 A.L.R. 400, with the Court saying:

'The petition or information in mandamus is, in law, a mere memorandum in the nature of an affidavit supplying the materials for the recitals of fact in the alternative writ, the function of the petition being to make known to the court the ground of complaint and the facts alleged in support of the relief sought. The petition is no part of the pleadings in the cause and becomes functus officio as soon as an alternative writ is issued on it. So the alternative writ of mandamus is in all respects the plaintiff's (relator's) declaration in the case and is subject to the same rules as to amendment and the like as are applicable to declarations in ordinary legal proceedings. State ex rel. Davidson v. Couch Fla ,...

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3 cases
  • Conner v. Mid-Florida Growers, Inc.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 31 March 1989
    ...has been recognized when the allegations in the complaint and alternative writ present only questions of law. City of West Palm Beach v. Knuutila, 183 So.2d 881 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966). It is true that in the present case the obligation to pay at least part of the judgment no longer can be hone......
  • Holcomb v. Department of Corrections, 92-288
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 7 December 1992
    ...it becomes in all respects the complaint and subject to the same rules of pleading as are any other complaints. West Palm Beach v. Knuutila, 183 So.2d 881 (Fla. 4th DCA1966); Fla.R.Civ.Pro. 1.630(e). It is then up to the respondent to admit or deny the factual allegations upon which relief ......
  • City of Miami Beach v. Sunset Islands 3 & 4 Property Owners Ass'n
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 3 December 1968
    ...writ and, by the terms of the writ, were ordered to respond thereto. We consider this meets the test of City of West Palm Beach v. Knuutila, Fla.App.1966, 183 So.2d 881.2'* * * or any other similar enterprises or businesses, which are not more obnoxious or detrimental to the welfare of the ......

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